Bledsoe loses bid for acquittal

OSKALOOSA -- A Jefferson County District Court judge Wednesday denied two motions for acquittal filed on behalf of a man convicted of murdering his sister-in-law.

In April, a Jefferson County jury found Floyd Scott Bledsoe, 23, guilty of first-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping and aggravated indecent liberties with a child in the death of Zetta "Camille" Arfman.

The 14-year-old girl had been living with Bledsoe and her sister in a mobile home northeast of Oskaloosa when she disappeared Nov. 5, 1999. Her partially exposed body was found three days later in a trash ditch at the home of Bledsoe's parents.

The jury reached its verdict after five days of testimony. At trial, jurors learned that Bledsoe's older brother initially confessed to the slaying but later recanted. Jurors also heard from a man who said he heard screams coming from a field the night Arfman disappeared. However, among the multiple witnesses who testified, no accurate timeline of events ever was established in connection with the crime.

Bledsoe's attorney, John Kurth, filed the motions for acquittal on May 8, arguing that his client had been convicted on multiplicious charges and that the circumstantial evidence provided wasn't enough to prove Bledsoe's guilt.

A multiplicious charge occurs when a defendant faces more than one charge for a single wrongful act. Kurth said the charges of aggravated kidnapping and aggravated indecent liberties with a child overlapped in Bledsoe's case.

However, Judge Gary Nafziger denied both motions, stating that the charges were separate and distinct and that the jury had weighed the evidence and reached a verdict based on the facts presented.

"During the course of the trial, there was substantial evidence that the defendant was away from his place of employment at the time the victim disappeared," he said. "The court finds that there was sufficient evidence that the victim was placed in peril and in fear for her well-being. The motion is denied for those reasons."

The judge continued a motion for a new trial, which Kurth said would include corrected testimony from Bledsoe's mother.

Court documents include information about a telephone conversation that indicate Bledsoe told his mother that he hadn't committed the crime. During the conversation, the two speculated about why Bledsoe's brother might have confessed. Bledsoe's mother asked Bledsoe why the older brother would have confessed if he wasn't guilty.